Crew seating arrangement

Flight

STS-70 had originally moved ahead of
STS-71 because of a delay in the launch
of the Russian Spektr laboratory module to the Russian space station MIR.
However, on May 31, 1995 shuttle managers assessed damage to the External Tank
of
STS-70 caused by nesting Flicker Woodpeckers. The
damage consisted of about 71 holes (ranging in size from 4 inches in diameter
to ½ inch in diameter) in the ETs thermal protection foam insulation.
Technicians installed safeguards against additional damage. On June 02, 1995,
NASA managers decided to delay the launch of Discovery
in order to make repairs to the insulation, and
STS-71 was moved ahead of
STS-70. Discovery was rolled back to the
VAB
on June 08, 1995, and was returned to the pad on June 15, 1995.

STS-70 marked the maiden flight of the new Block 1
orbiter main engine. Engine number 2036 featured the new high-pressure liquid
oxygen turbo-pump, a two-duct power-head, baffleless main injector, single-coil
heat exchanger and start sequence modifications. The Block I engine flew in the
number one position on Discovery. The other two engines were of the existing
Phase II design.

NASA's latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite,
TDRS-G, was scheduled for launch on board
Discovery.TDRS-G is the seventh and final in the first
series of communications spacecraft that make up the TDRSS. Although
TDRS-G was stored on orbit and not used immediately,
it was being launched now to take advantage of the experienced crew for the
critical launch and deployment sequence. In addition, on-orbit storage was less
costly than ground storage and extended crew retention.Once it is on orbit,
the
TDRS-G designation was changed to
TDRS-7.

The
TDRS' were composed of three distinct modules: An
equipment module, a communications payload module and an antenna module. The
modular design reduced the cost of individual design and construction efforts
that, in turn, lower the cost of each satellite.The equipment module housed
the subsystems that operate the satellite is located in the lower hexagon
portion of the main body of the spacecraft. The attitude control subsystem
stabilizeed the satellite to provide accurate antenna pointing and proper
orientation of the solar panels to the Sun. The electrical power subsystems
consisted of two solar panels that provided a ten-year power supply of
approximately 1,700 watts. The thermal control subsystem consisted of surface
coatings and controlled electric heaters.The payload module, located on the
upper hexagon portion of the main body of the spacecraft, was composed of the
electronic equipment required to provide communications between the user
spacecraft and the ground. The receivers and transmitters for single access
services were mounted in compartments on the back of the SA antennas.The
antenna module was composed of five antenna systems: two SA, the MA arrays,
STGL, and the S-band omni for satellite health and housekeeping.

The
Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) was used on Space Shuttle mission
STS-70 to boost
NASA's
TDRS-G Tracking and Data Relay Satellite from
low-Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit, some 22,300 statute miles (35,000
kilometers) from Earth.The
IUS was a two-stage, solid rocket propelled,
three-axis stabilized vehicle for placing spacecraft in a high-Earth orbit or
on an escape trajectory for an interplanetary mission.The
IUS was 17 feet (5.18 meters) long and 9.25 feet (2.8
meters) in diameter, with an overall weight of approximately 32,500 pounds
(14,742 kilograms). The
IUS consisted of a first stage comprised of a large
solid rocket motor containing 21,400 pounds (9,707 kilograms) of propellant and
generating approximately 42,000 pounds (188,496 Newtons) of thrust and an
interstage. The second stage consisted of a solid rocket motor with 6,000
pounds (2,722 kilograms) of propellant generating approximately 18,000 pounds
(80,784 Newtons) of thrust, and an equipment support section.

TDRS-1 was launched in April 1983, on board Space
Shuttle Challenger (STS-6), and the
second
TDRS was lost in the
Challenger
accident in January 1986.
TDRS-3 was launched on board Space Shuttle Discovery
(STS-26) in September 1988, and
TDRS-4 was launched on board Discovery (STS-29) in March 1989.
TDRS-5 was launched on board Space Shuttle Atlantis
(STS-43) in August 1991.
TDRS-6 was launched on board Space Shuttle Endeavour
(STS-54) in January 1993. The five
orbiting
TDRS spacecraft were all functioning, but only three
(TDRS-4,
TDRS-5, and
TDRS-6) were fully operational. Because of the
flexible capability of the TDRSS, following the successful launch and checkout
of
TDRS-G, the TDRSS constellation will be
reconfigured.

After the orbiter payload bay doors are opened in orbit,
the orbiter maintained a preselected attitude to keep the payload within
thermal requirements and constraints.On-orbit predeployment checkout began,
followed by an
IUS command link check and spacecraft communications
command check. Orbiter trim maneuvers normally were performed at this
time.Forward payload restraints were released and the aft frame of the
airborne support equipment tilt the
IUS/TDRS to an angle of 29 degrees from the payload bay.
This extended the
TDRS into space just outside the orbiter payload bay,
allowing direct communication with Earth during systems checkout. The orbiter
then was maneuvered to the deployment attitude.Prior to deployment, the
spacecraft electrical power source was switched from orbiter power to
IUS internal power by the orbiter flight crew. After
verifying that the spacecraft is on
IUS internal power and that all
IUS/TDRS predeployment operations have been successfully
completed, a "go/no-go" decision for
IUS/TDRS deployment was sent to the crew.When the
orbiter flight crew was given a "go" decision, they activated the pyrotechnic
devices that disconnected the
IUS/TDRS umbilical cables. The crew will commanded the
electromechanical tilt actuator to raise the tilt table to a 58-degree
deployment position.During deployment, the orbiter's thrusters were
inhibited and a pyrotechnic separation device initiated to physically separate
the
IUS/TDRS spacecraft combination from the tilt table and
orbiter. Compressed springs provided the force to push the
IUS/TDRS from the orbiter payload bay at approximately 4.2
inches (0.10 meters) per second.Approximately 19 minutes after
IUS/TDRS deployment, the orbiter's engines were ignited by
Terence
Henricks to move the orbiter away from the
IUS/TDRS. At approximately 45 minutes after deployment
from the orbiter, the pyrotechnic inhibits for the solid rocket motor were
removed. The belly of the orbiter was oriented towards the
IUS/TDRS combination to protect the orbiter windows from
the
IUS's plume.

The Bioreactor Demonstration
System was designed to use ground-based and space-bioreactor systems to grow
individual cells into organized tissue that is morphologically and functionally
similar to the original tissue or organ. The BDS was composed of a device
developed at the Johnson Space Center that used a rotating cylinder to suspend
cells and tissues in a growth medium, simulating some aspects of microgravity.
The system, which was already used extensively in ground-based research, also
provided for gas and nutrient exchange. The purpose of the flight experiment
was to demonstrate the performance of the bioreactor in actual microgravity. As
such, the primary goal was to assess the fluid dynamic characteristics of the
bioreactor in microgravity.

Research on plant growth and development, as
well as research on the hormone system of insects, was an important part of the
scientific mission of
STS-70. Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC)
experiments, designed to examine the effects of microgravity on a wide range of
physiological processes in plants, insects, and small invertebrate animals,
were part of the Small Payloads Program. Research in the "quick turnaround" (on
average one year or less) BRIC program had provided basic scientific
information on a range of important topics, from plant metabolism affecting
food crops to information on the processes of insect development and pest
control.Previous BRIC experiments had focused on starch metabolism in plant
seedlings (BRIC-1 & 3), on development in plant tissue culture (BRIC-2),
and on ways that hormones affect the development of gypsy moths from worm-like
juveniles to winged adults (BRIC-1). BRIC payloads were flown in canisters
located in lockers on the Shuttle's middeck. These canisters were simple
carriers for small biological payloads and afford the investigator the
opportunity to expose their samples to a microgravity environment for extended
periods of time.

National Institutes Of Health-R-2: This project
emphasized features of the rat's behavior and physiology that are known to
contribute to successful pregnancy, labor, delivery and the onset of postnatal
care - especially lactation. Lacking the challenge of working against gravity
and disruption of specific behaviors, such as self-grooming, may compromise the
female's ability to give birth and provide sufficient milk. Development of
vestibular (balance) function in all species begins well before birth. The use
of pregnant animals exposed to microgravity will eliminate the effects of
gravity from direct input during the development of this system. Examination of
the behavior of the offspring after birth was expected to provide information
about the earliest development of the vestibular system under gravity as
compared to microgravity circumstances.

The Commercial Protein
Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment aboard
STS-70 formed a bridge between
NASA and private industry by developing methods for
the crystallization of macromolecules in microgravity. These crystals are used
to determine the three-dimensional structure of the molecules by X-Ray
crystallography. The structural information not only provides a greater
understanding of the functions of macromolecules in living organisms, but it
also provides scientific insight into the development of new drugs.

The
Space Tissue Loss-B (STL-B) experiment was a collaborative research
project between Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC, and the
NASA Life & Microgravity Sciences and Applications
Div., Washington DC. The researchers were investigating the effects of
microgravity on embryogenesis. Their analysis is centered on the evaluation of
a very well described and understood biology model, the Medaka fish egg. The
study focuses on evaluating the micro-gravity effect at the molecular level. Of
particular interest was the digital image capture of the (gastrolation)
development phase via the STL-B on board video microscope and telemetry to the
investigators on the ground. This follow-up experiment should help validate
previous STS-59 findings as well as
provide additional definition to the model for future space biology
experimentation.

Hand-Held, Earth Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative,
User-Friendly, Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES-B) was
the third generation of a space-based geolocating system. For this
configuration, a XYBION multispectral video camera was integrated with the
HERCULES geolocation hardware. The second generation, HERCULES-A, used
NASA's Electronic Still Camera (ESC) and was flown
twice (STS-53 and
STS-56). HERCULES-B allowed the system
to respond to requirements that exploit multispectral techniques.The
geolocation part of the system, built by the Naval Research Laboratory,
calculated and tagged every frame of video with latitude and longitude with an
accuracy of three nautical miles. The multispectral video camera was a high
resolution (38 line pairs/mm) XYBION IMC-301 image intensifying camera. The
XYBION was integrated by the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate.
This camera allowed multispectral imagery @ 15 meter Ground Sampling Distance
(GSD) from the Shuttle in the 500-900 nanometer spectral region. The camera
used filter wheels that rotate in the optical path at 300 rpm. Several filter
wheels (each with six filters), suggested by the Environmental Research
Institute of Michigan and the Office of Naval Research, was provided to the
crew to be changed during the mission. The camera also had a 'panchromatic
mode' that allowed high shutter speed imagery to be obtained. In this mode, the
high shutter speeds (<100 microseconds) allowed the effects of Orbiter and
operator motion to be decreased. With the longest focal length lens (1800 mm),
GSDs of three meters were anticipated based on laboratory and field
measurements. Various focal length lenses (320-1830 mm) were used in
panchromatic mode which allowed a wide variety of fields of view and
GSDs.

Microencapsulation in Space (MIS) made its second space
flight aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. The purpose of this project was to
produce a novel pharmaceutical (microencapsulated antibiotic) in weightless
conditions using equipment that has been improved since the first MIS flight in
1992 (STS-53).Microencapsulated
antibiotics, which are capable of providing precise and predictable sustained
drug release rates, control wound infections more effectively than systemically
administered antibiotics and do so in vivo after a single application to
infected wounds. The microencapsulated formulations provide high antibiotic
concentrations in the wound site over a prolonged period of time, during which
the polymeric carrier biodegrades into carbon dioxide in water. The end result
is that all microorganisms in the wound are killed by the antibiotic, and the
drug carrier (polymer) dissolves in the body leaving no
residue.

MSX was a Department of Defense program, designed to
support the development of surveillance capabilities of ballistic missiles
during the midcourse of their flight. The principal instrument of the program
was a satellite in a 99 degree inclination, 898 kilometer altitude polar orbit.
The imaging and spectrographic sensors carried by the MSX satellite covered a
broad range of spectral regions from the far ultraviolet to the long wave
infrared. The MSX Shuttle experiments are flown under the direction of the
Defense Department's Space Test Program and involved using the MSX satellite to
observe the plumes from Shuttle engine burns and the Shuttle body,
representative of a resident space object (RSO), against Earth and space
backgrounds.

The objective of Military Applications of Ship Tracks
(MAST) was to determine how pollutants generated by ships modify the
reflective properties of clouds. Ship tracks are observed in satellite imagery
as long, narrow, curvilinear cloud features that have greater brightness than
the surrounding clouds. The
STS-70 crew photographed ship tracks using large
format, handheld cameras. These high-resolution photographs provided insight
into the processes of ship track production on a global scale. MAST will help
in understanding the effects of man-made aerosols on clouds and the resulting
impact on the climate system.

Radiation Monitoring Equipment-III
(RME-III) was an instrument which measured the exposure to ionizing
radiation on the Space Shuttle. It displayed the dose rate and total
accumulated radiation dose to the operator, while simultaneously registering
the number of radiation interactions and dose accumulated at ten second
intervals. This data was stored in RME-III's memory module(s), for follow-up
analysis upon return to Earth. The radiation detector used in the instrument
was a spatial ionization chamber called a tissue equivalent proportional
counter (TEPC) which effectively simulated a target size of a few microns of
tissue, the dimensions of a typical human cell. For this reason, TEPC-based
instruments such as the RME-III are called micro-dosimeter
instruments.

WINDEX recorded the dynamics of thruster plumes,
Shuttle glow, water dumps, atmospheric nightglow, aurora, and flash evaporator
system (FES) releases. Thruster plumes provide the largest perturbations on the
LEO environment. Thruster firings can enhance the local densities of gases by
several orders of magnitude and introduce numerous non- natural elements. These
non-natural elements react with the atmosphere or with the spacecraft systems
in the plume cloud. WINDEX would like to record the high speed (< ¼
sec) phenomena associated with the start-up and shut-down transients of the
thruster as well as observe how these transients affect the Shuttle glow.
Shuttle glow can be an indicator of the flow field around the Shuttle.
Measurements of the Shuttle glow will help us understand the chemistry around
the Shuttle and obtain a measure of the optical contamination of LEO based
sensors. Low-light level spectrally resolved images will provide this
information. Water dumps, FES releases, and fuel cell purges also are a major
contributor to the non-natural environment around a LEO satellite. WINDEX
looked at water dumps to identify particle size and freezing dynamics of liquid
water releases in the LEO environment. In order to separate the optical
emissions of the near-field glow or plume data from the natural background,
WINDEX must obtain atmospheric nightglow information. WINDEX will accomplish
this by obtaining spectrally resolved images of limb and nadir night glow. This
data will identify the dynamics of the middle and upper atmosphere (50 - 300 km
altitude). Information on the aurora will also help define the natural
background environment of LEO platforms.

VFT-4 gave researchers a
chance to get first-hand information and test those ideas. One theory is that
the eye is like a water balloon. Rest it on a table and it gets longer as it
flattens out (which is the normal condition on Earth). Put that balloon in
space and it shortens, becoming more round. The eye could do the same thing and
when it shortens it becomes far- sighted, causing more difficulty seeing
objects up close. In addition to taking pre-and post-flight measurements of two
astronauts' eyes using the Vision Function Tester, the participating astronauts
used the instrument daily throughout the Shuttle flight. The information
gathered during these 30-minute sessions will also help scientists evaluate how
quickly the eye adjusts in space and how it is affected over time.

As
part of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) students in the United States and other
countries had a chance to speak via amateur radio with astronauts aboard the
Space Shuttle Endeavour during
STS-70. Ground-based amateur radio operators ("hams")
were able to contact the Shuttle through automated computer-to-computer amateur
(packet) radio links. There also were voice contacts with the general ham
community as time permitted.Space Shuttle Mission Specialist Donald
Thomas (call sign KC5FVF) talked with students in 10 schools
in the U.S. and Argentina using "ham radio".

A Shuttle window right of
the pilot was damaged by a micrometeorite.

Landing opportunities at the
Kennedy Space Center at 07:54 am EDT and 09:31 am July 21, 1995 were waved off
due to a buildup of ground fog over the Shuttle Landing Facility. Flight
Director Rich Jackson directed the five
STS-70 astronauts to remain aloft for another day
after poor visibility prevented Discovery's homecoming on the two consecutive
landing opportunities. Discovery's astronauts were informed that their landing
had been waved off for the day at 07:10 AM CDT after astronaut Stephen
Oswald, flying weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training
Aircraft over the landing strip, reported that he could not see the 3-mile-long
runway from his vantage point. An earlier
KSC
landing opportunity on July 22, 1995 at 06:26 am EDT was waved off due to
marginal yet improving weather conditions at
KSC.